2 Pounder QF Anti-tank gun

[825]

I found this underneath the Italeri kit boxes that I just finished and thought it would be a nice filler between other builds going on. The 2 pounder was the British Anti-Tank gun at the beginning of WW2 and was a very effective weapon, being the best AT weapon of its time. It was used both as an anti tank weapon in AT units as well as arming British tanks. As armour became thicker it became less effective and was replaced by the 6 pounder in 1942. 

 

It's a weapon often overlooked and continued to arm armoured cars up to the end of the war. 

 

 

The box contains a couple of sprues, of mainly small parts, although nicely moulded. And thankfully free of flash and mould marks. 

 

 

A single sheet of instructions and another with colour schemes. But no transfers. 

 

 

 

First job will be to get some paint on as an undercoat. 

[825]

Some Hu237 on as an undercoat and primer. 

 

 

I found a second one but it's been started and is probably beyond the 25% so won't qualify. However, I'll build it alongside anyway. 

 

 

It is tiny as can can be seen from the gun and carriage already made up. 

 

 

 

[Ozzy]

Nice start 825, these aren’t the largest Gun about looking at the scalpel for scale it’s tiny.

[825]

6 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Nice start 825, these aren’t the largest Gun about looking at the scalpel for scale it’s tiny.

In real life the calibre of the barrel was 40 mm so pretty small. Mind you equivalent  German A/T guns as well as the US equivalent were 37 mm. There are a lot of little parts for my arthritic fingers so just as well their well moulded and pretty free of flash. During WW2 they were used in the front line as an A/T weapon from the beginning through to 1943 at least although supplemented first by 25 pounders and then increasingly replaced by the 6 pounder and eventually the 17 pounder. Was an effective piece of kit until armour got too thick. Was also criticised as it had a high silhouette so making the crew vulnerable. Also lacked a High Explosive option until about 1942/43 which was a limitation when mounted on tanks. British philosophy pre WW2 and in the early years was that tanks would be fighting tanks so Armour Piercing capability was what was needed. The Germans used A/T guns in amongst their tanks in attack as well as defence so they had HE capability in tank guns which is obviously valuable if fighting against A/T guns dug in or on the move. 

[stevehnz]

I'm enjoying this being a bit of a cartridge/ ballistics nut. I've long wondered why Britain didn't do more with this round. It is nearly as big as the 40mm Bofors so could well have been a more effective AA round than the shorter 2 lbr pompom (also 40mm) round & as you said, an HE round would have been incredibly useful in North Africa.

Steve.

[825]

On 10/29/2020 at 3:21 AM, stevehnz said:

I'm enjoying this being a bit of a cartridge/ ballistics nut. I've long wondered why Britain didn't do more with this round. It is nearly as big as the 40mm Bofors so could well have been a more effective AA round than the shorter 2 lbr pompom (also 40mm) round & as you said, an HE round would have been incredibly useful in North Africa.

Steve.

HE rounds were eventually developed but too late for the majority of the North Africa campaign when the gun was effectively past its sell by date as a weapon for use in Europe. It continued to be used in the Far East as the Japanese never developed heavily armoured tanks. 

 

Spent time yesterday working on the piece. The gun and trunnions, ready use box and mount assembled. 

 

 

Although quite small and therefore time consuming to clean everything up there's a fair level of detail. The plastic is quite hard so removing sprue gates from small pieces needs careful work. The misaligned axle has been fixed. 

 

[825]

More assembly and a lot of details added. 

 

 

 

Temporarily put together, more parts to be added and painted. 

 

[825]

A few bits more added,  and the gun and carriage added together. The shield is also on. I've painted the gun in light stone and it should have a very dark brown disruptive camouflage. I don't have anything like it in the paint pile. Looking around I found a mix of 5 parts Hu10 Service Brown with one part Hu33 Black. I've got Black but no Hu10. However, I do have some Tamiya equivalents so will probably use them. I'm a bit worried about mixing and brushing the Tamiya but I've got some Tamiya Flow Improver so that'll help,with brushing. 

 

 

 

The brown is the straight from the bottle to check that I see possible to get the shapes right. 

[825]

And here we are with the one I started earlier, which is now slowly catching up. I'll build the second on its wheels rather than in its firing position. 

 

[825]

I mixed up some Very Dark Brown from my two Tamiya bottles and it looks ok. It is very glossy, but nothing a coat of matt varnish won't fix, and needs a second coat.  Tamiya does need to be left to dry thoroughly or it will lift and streak so there will be a short delay. 

 

 

I tried to hand paint the wheels but the delineation on the front isn't strong and I was unsuccessful twice so am now waiting on some suitably sized paint masks. So getting close to the finish line. 

[825]

 

This little thing is now finished. All the little bits added, paint touched up and a couple of coats of matt varnish. When we get some decent light I'll take some shots for the gallery.

 

 

It's brother is also finished although I finished it in transport configuration. It looks quite different. 

 

[JOCKNEY]

Really lovely work @825 please be careful with that big chocolate penny in the photos, you wouldn't want it to melt and I don't think you are allowed to eat it before Christmas  !

 

Cheers Pat 

 

 

[825]

16 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Really lovely work @825 please be careful with that big chocolate penny in the photos, you wouldn't want it to melt and I don't think you are allowed to eat it before Christmas  !

 

Cheers Pat 

 

 

I shouldn't have eaten it as it tasted terrible!

 

i've dry brushed the guns with some light sand to take the edge off the paint finish. Their done now and will be photo' for the gallery soon. 

 

[CliffB]

It's nice to see something a little different 

[AdrianMF]

For me it’s a gun I've heard about but never really seen, so seeing the towed and deployed ones side by side is a revelation!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[825]

On 12/17/2020 at 1:14 AM, AdrianMF said:

For me it’s a gun I've heard about but never really seen, so seeing the towed and deployed ones side by side is a revelation!

 

Regards,

Adrian

Thanks Adrian. I sometimes think a lot of early WW2 ordnance gets overlooked. The 2pounder was a very effective AT weapon until armour got a lot thicker, and it was the mainstay of British and Commonwealth AT regiments and tanks for several years. 

[Ozzy]

Nicely finished 825.